Loving God And Loving Others: The Basics Of Becoming ChristlikeНамуна

Day 6: Loving Your Neighbor

Jennifer met her best friend on the middle school bus. Little did she know that would be the beginning of an almost 20-year friendship. These best friends don’t share the same ethnicity. They don’t have the same beliefs. And they pursued vastly different majors in college. But when Jennifer’s friend looked at her on that bus, she saw more than just a lonely girl—she saw a neighbor to love.

Over the past few days, we’ve been looking at what it means to love God. Jesus summed up all the law and the prophets in two commands: love God and love people. The second command—to love our neighbor as ourselves—is the natural overflow of being loved by God. 

Loving our neighbor well is ultimately a way we reflect the merciful and grace-filled love we have received from God. Loving our neighbor is also a tangible way that we express our love for God as we care for others made in His image.

In Luke 10, Jesus shared the parable of the Good Samaritan to clearly demonstrate that our “neighbor” isn’t the person closest to us in location, ethnicity, gender, religion, or background. We are supposed to consider all people our “neighbors.”

Limiting who qualifies as a “neighbor” makes us feel that we’re justified when we pass by people we’d rather not deal with—even if they would benefit from our help, our care, or compassion. Engaging with people who are different from us makes us uncomfortable; loving people who are different from us can be risky. And loving people as we love ourselves is harder still.

We can often see a need in someone else and choose to pass by. Sometimes our reasons are legitimate—we literally might not have time to stop, or we may not have the means to help or physical safety is an issue that precludes our assistance. Other times, our reasons aren’t as concrete or easy to excuse. Sometimes we avoid loving our neighbor because that person grates on our nerves, they’re not easy to love, or we don’t want to get involved in their situation or dysfunction.

We can’t be all things to all people at all times; Jesus doesn’t require that of us. But we can be the heart of Jesus in our relationships with our neighbors and ask Him how we can respond as He would.

In those moments we can ask God: “What does it look like for me to love my neighbor?”

Questions for Reflection:

• What is God saying to you about loving your neighbor?
• In what ways can you express care and concern for others when opportunities arise?
• What changes do you need to make to better reflect your love for God by loving people different from you?